Wednesday, 6 March 2013

It looks like it’s been a while that I posted some
recipes here. I have plenty of recipes pending in my drafts, I am not sure when
I am going to be done with all those. I am caught up with loads of stuff for
the past couple of weeks and I am going to be busy for the coming weeks as well.
So, I am hoping my posts are going to sporadic, until unless I prioritize
blogging over several other things like I used to do before.

Back home, Chicken 65 is one of the most popular starters
in an Indian restaurant menu. They are not seen in the menus here somehow, but
these are the ones we always order for the starters, if they are available. The
Indian restaurants here have very different menus as that to India, something
that not only taste different, but looks quite different as well. I have to
agree to the fact that, Indian food in Indian restaurants back home tastes so
much better than the ones in here.

There are many stories about the origin of this recipe, I
am not certain with any of them though. I read that, it uses chicken that is 65
days old. Some says it is the 65th recipe on some restaurant menu.
Whatever the story is, all I can tell you is, this is a great, simple and easy
chicken recipe with great depth of flavour.

I always believed that we can never recreate the
restaurant-like food at home and this recipe proved me wrong. I was quite
surprised at its outcome, as it tasted as good as the ones we get in the
restaurants if not better. It is not only scrumptious, but equally easy and
quick to prepare. The outcome is always juicy, tangy and spicy chunks of meat
slathered in goodness! I have already prepared it several times, many a times
it being the starters for the party and I got rave reviews for it. I usually
prepare it with chicken breast, as it is easy for the little ones to eat, but
they are more tasty and tender with meat on bone.

1. Marinate the chicken piece with all the ingredients
listed under marinade until the chicken is evently coated and leave it in the fridge for couple of hours or
overnight in the refrigerator for the marinade to seep in the meat.

2. Heat oil in a kadai or a large frying pan and pour
enough oil to deep fry the chicken. Oil should not be heated to smoking high
heat, but retained at a medium heat to cook the chicken pieces.

3. Once the oil is hot, add few chicken pieces in the
kadai and let them cook for about 3-4 minutes undisturbed until the bubbles
starts to come down. Using a slotted spoon, flip the chicken pieces over and
cook for 3-4 more minutes. At a medium heat it just takes about 7-8 minutes to
cook each batch, but check the doneness by taking out couple of pieces. Make
sure it is cooked through and you don’t see any pink in the middle. Over
cooking them can make it hard and chewy, so make sure you cook it for
sufficient time to keep it juicy and moist. Once done, drain them in a kitchen
towel to remove excess oil.

4. For the tadka, in another oan, add 2 tbsp of oil and
throw in chopped onions. Once they trun golden, add in the ginger garlic,
curryleaves and green chilli and sauté for
2-3 minutes until the raw smell fades.

5. Add in pepper powder and coriander leaves and sauté
for few seconds and then add the chicken pieces and mix well. Serve hot with
rice, chappathis or naans or as starters.